Taniciusfox
|King Sonic, Super Sonic }} |chat_alias = |TaniInky, Liqur-sama, Tani Coyote }} |joined = March 2010 |years = 2010–2014 2016– |year_start = 2010 |games = See list |series = |countries = Marian Federation, any NPC in a good spot to mess players up |fullname = Tanner Bates |gender = Male |born = |age = |occupation = Entrepreneur and professional troll |religion = Some weird neopagan polytheism with an emphasis on coyote gods |nationality = American }}Tani Coyote (originally TaniciusFox), nicknamed Tani, Tany, T-Fox, "That Goddamned Furry"'''by CivGeneral, and very rarely, '''TF (and about a billion different handles on the other forum), is a forum poster known for his various Civ 3 stories, posting in Off-Topic, furry fandom fanaticism, and of course, creating the first formal Imperium Offtopicum. Tanicius is one of the most regular game moderators in IOT and founded a number of series, trying to keep at least one thread running at all times (and occasionally, multiple games simultaneously). He is peculiar in that like CivOasis, he very rarely participates as a player, his first non-GM appearance being Imperium Offtopicum IV, where he was first an aggressive protagonist, and later, an antagonist, forming the ANTIEDO/GUN Alliance that plunged the world into a nuclear war. Despite a self-professed love-hate relationship with the player base, Tanicius remained an active member of the IOT community from 2010–2014, after which his CFC activity declined while he finished college studies. He remains a polarizing figure, having developed a number of innovative rulesets and settings and earned repute as one of the most dedicated GMs on the board, but has regularly been accused of NPC strong-manning and generally dismissing complaints over rule changes and/or breakdowns in decorum. Personality/play style Tanicius conveys an attitude of friendly irreverence to the point some may think he's unflappable; he often jokes that he's a sadist and has confessed to systematically trolling the players. He has self-admitted temper issues, and so tries to steer away from conflict or otherwise avoid becoming locked into a dispute; consequently he is known for 'laissez-faire' moderating that may have contributed to the player fights of Multipolarity II and The Space Race. He is notoriously choosy about which games he joins, claiming an aversion to "unnecessary use of power" that has prompted some silent boycotts. Ironically, he is something of a control freak, preferring administrative positions over play because he "doesn't trust" many others. This led to management breakdown in MP2 when he began undermining his co-GM's autonomy. :"My GMing is Keynesian. If gameplay is in a downturn, I increase my activities to stimulate it." —Taniciusfoxhttp://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=12241208#post12241208 As a moderator he frequently amends a game's ruleset to correct for emergent bugs, but is notoriously stubborn in addressing player complaints over major mechanics. Tanicius is most infamous for his use of NPC states, which typically start on par with player countries and that he admits 'play to win'. He has been accused of using NPCs to railroad player behavior, and as early as MP1 muscled players out of control of their own alliances. He has also been charged with bending the game rules for personal aims, the ending to Imperia Mobiana establishing Enerjak as a powergaming meme. Tanicius' play style emphasizes international commerce and soft-power realpolitik, while his nation is often characterised by Mobian lore, characters, and references thereto (though in recent years, owing to changing interests, he now references all kinds of anthropomorphic characters). The reason he purportedly avoids most IOTs is because their emphasis on realism and human nations is at odds with the fantastic themes he prefers. Other ventures A business owner and entrepreneur by nature, Tanicius sought to expand IOT into other domains and media. He pioneered the now-obscure Mibbit chat, and later popularized Chatango. Prompted by moderator intervention during Imperium Offtopicum IX he founded the Imperium Offtopicum Forums, which he attempted to cultivate as a permanent alternative board, but the project collapsed after his monetization of the site led most of its users to quit in protest. Around the same time he changed his CFC alias to SonicTH and insisted others refer to him as such, to resounding failure. Adding to his infamy is the overuse of certain image macros, normally Sonic-related. Games to his credit Trivia * IOT veterans can be distinguished from new players in the use of "Tani" or "TF" rather than "SonicTH". This discussion became irrelevant with his new 2019 CFC username, "Tani Coyote". * He was the first proclaimed, and in his time most recognizable LGBT player. **Seemingly upping the ante since IOT's mass shift towards LGBT+ identities, he is now very openly polyamorous. * 'SonicTH' obviously stems from "Sonic the Hedgehog." This is due to his prior enthusiasm for the franchise. * After his immersion into the ''Portal'' franchise, he briefly employed an alter-ego dubbed "TAnIOS". * Tani is not a brony, but often injected MLP features into his behavior so as to troll Mechaerik and Red_Spy. * He used to be heavily into Sonic, and Sonic conventions. He has since upgraded to being general furry trash (his own words) and furry conventions. Notes